Comments
This priority measure complements priority measure 17 on the disaggregation of data for adolescents and young people, and priority measure 84 on the use of georeferenced information. The recommendations on the inclusion of persons of African descent in the data sources of the Latin American and Caribbean Demographic Centre (CELADE)-Population Division of ECLAC and the recommendations of the United Nations human rights mechanisms should be reviewed in this regard.
Possible lines of action
1. Adapt national legislation for the inclusion of persons of African descent in the national statistics system as a whole, including the establishment of the institutional arrangements needed to guarantee this population’s full and effective participation throughout the process of generating information. 2. Include questions to identify persons of African descent in statistical data sources, in a consistent and comparable manner, respecting the principle of self-identification. 3. Promote discussion sessions for defining a set of agreed indicators that reveal the discrimination and racism suffered by these population groups. 4. Strengthen the technical capacities of persons of African descent to access and make active use of the available information and to assess its impact on policies, and broaden the knowledge of State officials regarding their duties with respect to producing information and the importance of participation and the inclusion of the ethno-racial perspective. 5. Work jointly with persons of African descent and statistics institutes to evaluate progress and obstacles in these matters, in order to define strategies consistent with the nature of each data source.
Related instruments, forums and mechanisms
United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent; the follow-up mechanisms for the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; the Statistical Conference of the Americas of ECLAC; and target 17.18 of the Sustainable Development Goals, concerning the availability, by 2020, of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by race and ethnicity.
